When electronic music DJ and producer Seven Lions isn’t traveling the world performing music that he describes as “melodic, bassy [and] epic,” he’s residing in the woods in Seattle with his wife and dog. The Santa Barbara native moved to Washington to enjoy a more secluded life that’s closer to nature—quite the contrast from his tour life playing at the main stage for some of the biggest music festivals around the world, such as Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. Seven Lions’, whose real name is Jeff Montalvo, preference for living in Seattle goes against the grain as most artists tend to reside in major cities—such as New York City and Los Angeles—to create their work. In addition to his love for nature, the Ophelia label creator is also a self-proclaimed craft-beer fanatic. Montalvo recently took the time to sit down with Forbes to discuss his favorite outdoor activities in the Seattle area and which craft beer he picks to imbibe with each activity.

“Stevens Pass is like a pretty small mountain, so it’s not too popular and they just have a lot of really good runs,” Montalvo says. “And it’s close to our house, like 45 minutes away from us. It’s a good mountain for snowboarding, too, because there are some mountains that are more geared towards skiing.”

“Going to Stevens Pass in the summer is really cool, too, because they have downhill biking, which is really gnarly but really really fun,” he adds.

Triplehorn Wolf’s Cross. Courtesy of Triplehorn Brewing Company.

Triplehorn Brewing Company

As for his beer pairing: “The Wolf’s Cross is a stout and it’s like a lighter stout,” he notes. “It’s just a good winter beer. Stouts in the winter, especially after snowboarding, are awesome.”

“Next would be going to Friday Harbor,” he says. “It’s one of the islands in San Juan Island Chain. It’s a really cool place to be outside. It’s a small island—it takes like 30 minutes to drive from tip to tip.”

When asked what there is to do at Friday Harbor: “You can go to the beaches. There’s just walking around pretty much, hanging out outside, having fires on the beaches,” Montalvo says.

Fremont Brewing Summer Ale. Courtesy of Fremont Brewing.

Fremont Brewing

He added that his beer pick to accompany Friday Harbor would be Fremont Summer Ale. “The reason for that is because when we went last time our friend brought like three cases of it or something crazy like that, and the place reminds me of that now—almost like too much of it,” he remembers. “But yeah, Fremont Summer Ale is just a good, easy drinking summer beer.”

“Going to Madison Beach in the summertime is awesome. We’re from California, so that’s the only beach that has like that beach vibe that’s sort of similar to California,” he says. “It’s on Lake Washington, and they have a diving board and it’s just really cool in the summertime.”

Triplehorn Enabler Session. Courtesy of Seven Lions.

Seven Lions

“Beer with that would be something light for sure,” Montalvo adds. “I’m probably going to say Triplehorn Enabler—we’re big fans of Triplehorn. It’s like a session IPA, so good for day drinking. But if it was a full-on IPA you would be like way too drunk by 2.”